Sports nutrition, just what it is actually?

There are a small number of well-known athletes, including Martina Navratilova, Carl Lewis and Mike Tyson, who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet. The range of sports that include top level vegetarian athletes is broad and includes bodybuilding and Ironman triathletetics, so clearly it is possible to achieve competition level peak fitness on a diet of this type. If this is a nutritional regimen that you would like to work with, one place to start for advice is The American Dietetic Association (ADA).

It’s factsheet ‘Sports Nutrition for Vegetarians’ outlines the key principles for a balanced vegetarian diet suitable for the athletic lifestyle. One of the key messages in the ADA factsheet is that it is relatively straightforward to get the right balance of carbohydrates, protein, fats, vitamins and minerals from purely vegetable sources.

Carbohydrates are contained in nuts, seeds, dried fruit, bread, cereals, vegetables and fruits. Many of these foods are also rich sources of protein, but eggs and dairy products may also be added to supplement here. Fats and oils are abundant in beans, avocado, seeds and nuts. As for vitamins and minerals, Vitamins C & E are found in tomatoes, carrots and dark green leafy vegetables and a good source of B12 can be found in yeast extracts and soya milk. Iron can be found in dark green leafed vegetables and also in prunes, blackstrap molasses and fortified breads.

The body is good at producing its own vitamin D as long as it gets some direct sunlight, but in countries where strong sunlight without sunscreen would be harmful, a vitamin D supplement is recommended. With the increasing number of tasty vegetarian recipes and conveniently packed snack foods readily available, this can be an easy choice to make in your sports nutrition regime.